Well. Thanks New York Times. 🙄🙄

Hai. I’m Nancy – I was supposed to write my “Re-introduction” this week because of our hiatus. However …

Now that every entomologist ever needs to clean up this puked up fur-ball of a mess that is the non issue of the not so murderous murder hornet, I have written you this beautiful piece of literature instead of my reintroduction.

The gist of all this is, the Asian Giant Hornet is NOT murderous, and it’s not a threat to you in the US.

But here’s the long of it.

If you want to watch the full interview I did with Jon Perry from Stated Clearly you can watch it here! It was a live video so thanks to everyone who tuned in! If you’d rather read basically all the same points, continue below after the read more tab.

1) Escaped but not established and definitely not invasive.
Most likely eradicated.

A short note on invasive species:
To be invasive you need to be two things:
a. Non-native to the ecosystem
b. A threat or potential threat to human health, the economy or the environment.

Species become invasive because there are no natural enemies (predators / disease) to keep them in check. Due to this, they tend to out-compete native species and proliferate at an alarming rate. Not all species become invasive. This is called the Tens Rule. Out of all non-native species, only 1 out of 10 are considered escaped and found in the wild. Of those, 1 out of 10 become established – which means they can function and reproduce within the new environment. And of that! 1 of 10 become invasive. If you’re interested in learning more about invasives – check out my live video here.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program:
One colony of Asian Giant Hornets (Vespa mandarinia) was found near Nanaimo, British Colombia (outside Vancouver) in September 2019. So, 8 months ago.  The nest was destroyed using carbon dioxide (C0₂) which is minimally damaging to the environment. Since then, one worker hornet was found in the northwest corner of Washington state in December; just over the border in Blaine, Washington. It wasn’t very far from where the original colony was discovered. In fact, just over 50 miles away. The Asian Giant Hornet is a eusocial insect meaning that the colony’s workers are sterile. The one worker was found dead, and even if it wasn’t, couldn’t reproduce or start a new colony.

That’s it so far.
Yup.
Just that 1 colony.
Just that 1 worker.
So they’ve escaped … but hardly established and are nowhere near invasive.


In fact, a researcher, Doug Yanega who worked on the project had this to say.

I was one of the authorities brought in to consult on this case, and to my knowledge there have not been any sightings in 2020 that would suggest the eradication attempt was unsuccessful.

2) What Even Are Hornets?

Hornets are in the genus Vespa within the family Vespidae, within the order Hymenoptera. But really the difference between wasps and hornets is hand wavy at best especially when it comes to common names. Basically people use the word “Hornet” to effectively say “Giant, scary, terrifying, wasp on steroids, yellow, flying black, stripy, thing.”

Vespa (hornets), Polistes (paper wasps), Vespula (yellow jackets) and Dolichovespula are the genera of social wasps in the US. The European hornet (Vespa crabro) is the only non-native hornet currently established in the US with its range between the eastern and central United States.

3) The Asian Hornets are Giant … but not THAT Giant …

For the record, they are LARGE wasps. Reaching 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) they are the largest *social* stinging insect. But not *that* large in comparison to other insects. Some stick insects measure in at a foot long (30 centimeters), and many big beetles measure up at 3in body length and weigh as much as a small rat (half a pound). They’re not even the biggest wasp (contradictory to almost every other media site…) which is Pepsis heros. This tarantula hawk has the most painful insect sting and measures up to 4 inches (10 cm).

The Asian Giant Hornet measures in 1.5 inches and weighs about 3 grams.  Most of those sensationalized photos are pictures in kids’ hands or a perspective trick, holding the wasp close to the camera.  But, because they are the largest *social* stinging insect, they do have a large venom load. They’re just packin’ more heat because they can fit more of it inside them.

4) They’re Not Murderous … At Least Not to You

In 2013, these hornets also got bad press for “invading” China. Headlines, not unlike the ones we’re seeing now in the US, came to light.
“Killer Hornets Rampage Through China“
“Deadly Hornets Kill 42 In China and Injure 1,500 Others”
And so on …

So their hype has always been a thing. What they don’t tell you is that honey bees kill more people. About 100 people in the US to be specific. 40ish people die in the US per year due to dogs. Deer cause about 200 human deaths per year and are even more costly in property damage. And while we’re spouting out dangerous animal facts, they’re not nearly as “murderous” as other  insects like mosquitoes. According to WHO and UNICEF, mosquitoes transmitting malaria killed about 3,000 children per day in 2003. And in 2019 those stats were updated to suggest that every 2 minutes a child dies from malaria. So where are all the “Murderous Malaria Mosquitoes” articles?

But back to the hornets. Asian Giant Hornets in their native range kill upwards of 40-50 people each year and significantly fewer in Japan.

On average, it takes 59 stings from these hornets to kill an adult. After 28 stings, you should definitely go to the emergency room, and after 10 you should seek medical assistance.

On a side note, healthy adults can usually withstand around 1,000 honey bee (Apis mellifera) stings. Of course, if you’re allergic – which is when most deaths actually occur, just one sting from either of these animals is enough to send you into anaphylactic shock. Allergic reactions are what cause most bee and wasp related deaths.

5) Then Who Are The “Murder Hornets” Murderous To?

These “murderous” hornets are only murderous to their prey.
Bees. And specifically, bee larvae.

Weighing a lot (for a wasp), having a lot of venom, and powerful jaws, they make quick work of what gets in their way. They tend to eat other insects, but they do really like bees. Especially bee larvae. Especially honey bee larvae.

Because Japanese Honey Bees (Apis cerana japonica) and these Asian Hornets share a range together, native to Asia honey bees can fight off the attackers. When the first few scouting hornets enter the scene, the Japanese Honey Bees literally swarm the invading hornet and grab onto any part of it they can: legs, antennae, wings. They then make a giant ball of fury around the hornet with their bodies and maintain the invader at the center.

The honey bees can raise the bee body ball’s heat to 47⁰C (127⁰F) and a CO₂ level of 3.6%, killing the hornet inside. The bees can withstand temperatures up to 50⁰C and escape unscathed.  

Apis mellifera or our European Honey Bee – the one that we have in the States, has no natural defenses against this hornet since their ranges do not overlap. Just 10 hornets can make quick work of a hive of thousands of European Honey Bees. Wasps in the native range of the Asian Giant Hornet will sometimes just abandon their nest since they don’t have effective defense mechanisms.

6) So it’s the beekeepers who are worried

Therefore, much of the hubbub  is made by beekeepers. European honey bees do not belong in the Americas! We have them to mainly pollinate European crops that we also grow here. Almonds, for example. These Asian Hornets aren’t murderous to humans … they’re murderous to bees making quick work of entire hives. And we rely on those bees to produce much of our produce.

European honey bees are domesticated and unnatural in the environment. Akin to flying pigs, or cows – honey bees have been kept and maintained by humans as far back as the ancient Egyptians to 3,500 BC! And that’s just our earliest written record! Honey bees flying around in our ecosystems looks just about as natural as a milk cow standing in the middle of giant Sequoyas. That is to say … not.

That isn’t to say honey bees don’t have their fair share of natural enemies. Robber flies, mites, fungus, viruses. This is actually *good* because it ensures that escaped honey bees don’t overwhelm native North American bees and pollinators, although there is evidence they already do that. Point being, predators and disease keep species in check and prevent them from causing catastrophic harm.  Especially if those species are non native.

View this post on Instagram

This is an aptly named Bee Killer Robber Fly with said bee it killed . #Diptera #Asilidae . . . . . . . . . #ecuador #bugtour #macrophotography #macrophotographylove #robberfly

A post shared by Nancy Miorelli (@sci.bugs) on Mar 27, 2020 at 1:47pm PDT

7) I want to help!

That’s great!! Thank you!

First and foremost, folks who aren’t scientists are invaluable when it comes to tracking new invasions. We owe a lot to the public’s help when it comes to tracking things like the Spotted Lanternfly. (Maybe if we change its name to the Spotted Slaughterfly it would get the media press and coverage it deserves cuz it’s actually a problem rapidly spreading through the north eastern US).

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Here's that illustration angle that I love. When I'm taking photos I often am thinking of plopping them down on a PowerPoint slide or poster. When I first started giving presentations in Agriculture I was surprised how few photos there were of common species freely available online! If you'd ever like to use one of my photos for education or research just ask! . #slf #spottedlanternfly #lanternfly #fulgoridae #invasivespecies #nonnative #insect #apples #grapes #hops #pest #pestinsect #insectpest #gardening #maryland #horticulture #pestcontrol #quarantine #farming #pickyourown #farm #smallfarm #vegetables #bugs #bug

A post shared by Peter Coffey (@peterlcoffey) on Aug 5, 2019 at 6:50pm PDT

That being said, when we report these kinds of findings, we need to be very specific about the folks who need to be on the lookout. If you live within 50 miles of Blaine, Washington please keep an eye out. Insect invasions move slowly, and people in, say, Iowa aren’t gonna find one of these gals.

Trapping should only be done by professionals in the Blaine, Washington area.

Trapping in other areas is detrimental to native species that are early emergers in the spring. Many people are also just killing “yellow stripy things” willy nilly. This is killing off many native species including bumble bee queens which are some of the first active bees and pollinators in the spring time.

Everything from moths, to other bees and wasps, to beetles, have been mistaken and killed. An unfortunate victim is the Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus) -a docile wasp that just wants to feed cicadas to its babies.  If you’re not sure what the insect you’re looking at is, take a picture and let it live. Send that photo to entomologists or your local universities’ extension agent for an ID. Once confirmed with a GPS location, professionals can better assess and manage the situation.

TL;DR

Basically, the “Murder Hornet” or the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandrinia) is not considered to be established in North America. The only people who should be looking and trapping for it are professionals around the Blaine, Washington area. They’re not even really a health risk. The reason people are worried about them is because they make short work of European honey bees and there is the tiniest of chance that they may be in one small restricted area of the country.

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References

1. Embry P. 2020. Just How Dangerous is the Murder Hornet? Scientific American Accessed 11 May 2020
   
2. Schmidt J. 2016. The Sting of the Wild. John Hopkins University Press United States of America
   
3. Sheppard WS and Meixner MD. 2003. Apis mellifera pomonella, a new honey bee subspecies from Central Asia. Apidologie 34: 367-375
   
4. Tomlinson S. 2020. To the Editor of The New York Times. Facebook Post. Accessed 11 May 2020.
   
5. West Virgina University. 2020. It’s Time to Kill The Murder Hornet Headlines. Newswise Accessed 11 May 2020
   
6. Whitfield CW, Behura SK, Berlocher S, Clark AG, Johnston JS, Sheppard WS, Smith DR, Suarez AV, Weaver D, Tsutsui ND. 2007. Thrice out of Africa: Ancient and recent expansion of the honey bee Apis mellifera. Science Reports 314 (5799): 642-645
   
7. Yanega D. 2020. Media Circus. Facebook Post. Accessed 11 May 2020
   
8. Youichi Yanagawa. 2007. Cutaneous hemorrhage or necrosis findings after Vespa mandarinia (wasp) stings may predict the occurrence of multiple organ injury: A case report and review of literature. Clinical Toxicology 45: 803-807